Science Students Learn From Pig Lungs

Mrs. Westerhof’s anatomy students learned how smoke and cancer affect our lungs through a visual demonstration presented by Cyndi Powers of Mercy Health. Students were able to see and feel how a set of healthy pig lungs work while Cyndi inflated them by a foot pump connected to PVC pipes. After they saw and felt those, she replaced the healthy lungs with lungs that had been subjected to enough smoke to simulate a pack a day smoker. The lungs were also altered to have emphysema blebs and lung cancer. Senior Isabelle Langlois thought the experience was, “very eye opening and educational.” Junior Kaylee Adams thought, “Lungs feel nasty!” Junior Adam Hughey thought it was, “Eye opening how different the two sets of lungs were. It was day and night.” Cyndi also brought a jar with a pack of cigarettes dissolved into a brown sticky liquid representing all the chemicals found in cigarettes. She explained how there are over 4000 chemicals in tobacco. Senior Zoe Kelly thought the jar was, “Grossly educational. I didn’t think acetone and formaldehyde would be in there.” Overall, the anatomy students enjoyed a day where they could apply their knowledge of the respiratory system to an actual set of lungs.